Chennai: Tamil Nadu govt has told the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee, a technical panel, that Karnataka’s claim of poor reservoir storage is unacceptable. It alleged that the upper riparian state has used more than 30tmcft beyond its eligible share under the pretext of drinking water needs and irrigation of perennial crops.Tamil Nadu is facing a water crisis as Karnataka has not released the stipulated Cauvery water. Mettur dam has only 37tmcft against its full capacity of 93tmcft, with inflow at just 91 cusecs as of Saturday. In comparison, Karnataka’s Cauvery reservoirs hold 50tmcft against a total capacity of 114tmcft, sources said. Tamil Nadu received only 3tmcft in June against the stipulated 9tmcft and faces an additional deficit of 8tmcft in the first 10 days of July. “Karnataka has been saying it cannot release water as per schedule because of poor storage and poor inflow. While poor inflow is factual, poor storage is not acceptable,” an official said, quoting the state govt’s rejoinder to the committee after a recent meeting.Data from Tamil Nadu’s water resources department shows that Karnataka’s Cauvery reservoirs, Krishnarajasagar, Kabini, Harangi and Hemavathy recorded inflows of 12,312 cusecs, 15,198 cusecs, 2,751 cusecs and 11,470 cusecs respectively as of July 10. However, outflows from these reservoirs were only 712 cusecs, 500 cusecs, 180 cusecs and 300 cusecs.During the last water year, from June to May, Tamil Nadu received 153tmcft more than the stipulated quantum. In the previous year, it received an excess of 128tmcft. “Nearly 24 districts in Tamil Nadu depend on Cauvery water for drinking purposes, covering about one-third of the state’s population. At least 60tmcft is needed even to release water for the long-term samba crop, but given the current situation, release from Mettur is not possible even in July,” an official said. At present, Tamil Nadu’s focus is on meeting drinking water requirements and maintaining a release of 1,000 cusecs from Mettur. Water managers are hoping for an early onset of the northeast monsoon.
